ZoSan shorts
by mustangisinflames
Summary: A collection of ZoSan shorts with varied ratings based off prompts I receive to free up my writing style. I am accepting prompts for this!
1. Paramedic

**AN: This is just going to be a series of shorts from prompts I receive to help encourage my writing. I am taking prompts, feel free to PM me or leave one in the review. They can be canon verse or AU and any rating you like. These will all be ZoSan shorts varying on any form of love: romatic, friendship, unrequieted etc. I hope you enjoy them! This first one is from a really old prompt from someone who wanted Zoro as a paramedic to treat Sanji's injuries.**

**Please do leave prompts! I'll do them all!**

* * *

><p>It was on days like these that Zoro hated his job. He pushed the man back down firmly onto the tarmac of the road, "Don't try to get up," He said... again. Seriously, this guy was being far too stubborn. He pushed him down again as he made yet another attempt to get up, "Didn't you hear me? I said don't get up."<p>

"But... I have to..." The man said, trying and failing to fight back against Zoro's firm arm. Zoro adjusted the mask around the other's mouth to hold it in place better.

"I'm sure it can wait," Zoro said as soothingly as he could, "Try and breathe for me now. Deep breath in and out... That's it- in... and out..."

Zoro looked down at the sorry state of a man underneath him. Blond hair was matted with blood and two blue eyes were screwed tightly shut as he gasped in oxygen from the steady feed in the mask. Zoro pulled the plastic gloves up further on his hands and reached across himself to take up the neck brace lying next to him. Hit by a van, poor guy. Luckily it wasn't too bad but Zoro was concerned about the knock he'd taken to the head and the obviously fractured wrist and leg. Other than that the blond was fine and, as long as Zoro was able to keep him stable, he'd be able to prevent any life threatening internal bleeding or heammoraging. He called down in a calm, steady voice, "Can you tell me your name?"

He pulled the mask slightly away from his patient's mouth, enabling him to answer.

"S-sanji..."

"Okay Sanji, I want you to keep breathing nice and steady and stay very still. Do not move. It's very important you don't."

"O-okay..." Sanji replied and focused on breathing as Zoro placed the mask back over his mouth.

Opening the brace, Zoro brought it to the blond's neck and paused a moment to say, "This is gonna hurt a little, Sanji. Just keep breathing in and out."

Sanji whined in the back of his throat and Zoro pushed on, slotting the brace under his neck and trying not to jostle him too much. The blond cried out in pain and instinctively tried to move away but Zoro remained firm, keeping the man down as he snapped the supports shut. Zoro tried to comfort him, "It's alright, all over now. We'll get you to the hospital and you'll be fine."

The moment Zoro mentioned the word 'hospital' Sanji seemed to have forgotten his pain and moved, using the momentary surprise he had over the green haired paramedic to sit up, "N-no... I'm fine... Don't need the h-ospital."

Zoro was panicking inside. Was this moron trying to get himself killed?! He kept a composed face though as he tried to make the blond lie back down, "Oi, yes you do. I'm sorry to tell you but that van's done quite a number on you. Now come on, lie down. Don't make me have to sedate you."

Sanji refused to move, "I-I don't want to go..."

"You have to," Zoro said, "You'll only make yourself worse if you don't."

"No," The blond said, almost angrily, "Please, I don't want to. I'm fine."

"Then tell me why."

"What?" The blond looked up at the paramedic's serious face.

"Tell me why you won't go."

"I..." Sanji swallowed, shaking against the pain in his body. His eyes looked downward, head unable to move in the brace he wore, "I don't like hospitals, okay?" He waited for the paramedic to laugh at him but almost flinched at the feeling of the medic's hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see the green haired man smile reassuringly at him.

"No one likes hospitals, Sanji. It's alright to not to. I don't like 'em either."

"You don't?"

"'Course I don't, but they make people better so we all have to go at some point. And if you don't go there you're gonna make yourself worse."

"But-"

"Look, I'll stay with you okay? This is my last shift so I promise I won't leave you."

Zoro felt the blond relax underneath his palm so he gently and subtly began to push him back down.

"You promise?" The blond asked.

"Promise. Now lie down and let me help you," Zoro said, lowering the man back down and placing the oxygen mask back over his mouth, "Good."

"What's your name?" Sanji asked.

"It's Zoro."

"Zoro?"

"Yeah?"

"It really hurts."

"I know. I'll give you some pain relief alright?" Zoro moved to take a morphine injection from his kit and, lifting the blond's hand, inserted it into his bloodstream via the tube he'd put in his hand earlier, "I want you to breathe nice and steady for me again, okay Sanji?"

The blond grunted and finally did as he was told, waiting patiently as Zoro fussed over him before transferring him onto the gurney and strapping him in. Sanji splayed out his uninjured hand and Zoro got the message, taking it into his own and holding it with a comforting warmth.

And, as the doctors and nurses rushed around him upon arrival, Zoro stayed true to his word and never left once. All the while holding Sanji's hand.


	2. Guilt

**Roronoa22 asked: "...I'd love to read something where Zoro puts himself in harms way to protect Sanji in a fight..." Warning: Character Death**

* * *

><p>He was trying not to let himself be cornered, asserting himself forward to avoid the sudden sheer drop down to the pebbled shore below with its haggard surface and unforgiving juts of rock with no barrier for safety keeping him apart from it. His muscles burned with the acid of not having enough time to catch his breath nor regulate his breathing in any way and he tried to keep his attacks concise and sharp, not wasting time on fancy footwork and high, gymnastic kicks. His opponent was not to be underestimated and, scarily, was giving him very little room in which to work with. The cook of the Straw Hat crew swung out wide and low to the disappointment of no connection with the flesh of the other and the slight panic that he'd almost left himself open in the worry of keeping away from that precarious cliff edge and the certified damage and pain it would cause if he fell off. His pride would not let him loose; he had not trained two years in what he perceived to be Hell itself to be beaten like this, and there was also that nagging voice inside that kept him focused on the probability that if he went down then his attacker was free to move on to any of them next: Robin, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook, Luffy, and even Zoro. He had a dream to achieve but first and foremost, the safety of his Nakama came first every time whether it was feeding them or fighting for them, as long as he was here he'd see that none of them were hurt beyond return.<p>

This myriad of thoughts began clogging his mind, turning his reaction time to that of a viscous liquid slow and sluggish. He was losing it. The grass beneath their feet was thinning out, balding into dirt and alerting him to the inevitable drop that beckoned him. The enemy with his Haki hardened skin raised an arm before Sanji had time to register that he shouldn't be lashing out. He was flailing under anger and panic as it sort out its wrath inside of him and, too late to pull out of his mistake, unleashed a kick that halted abruptly as it met the other's arm. There was a jolted moment of nothing until jarring agony blasted up his leg in one fiery inferno, resonating up his spine and shaking him to his core. His supporting knee buckled and his hands slipped out on instinct to catch him, palms scraping along hard ground and soft skin splitting under the harsh treatment, already burning with the stings of dirtied cuts.

The pain left him dazed and his thoughts left him paralysed as the realisation that he'd failed was setting in. Oddly guilt should be the first thing on his mind rather than concern for his own life as the other, now towering over him, hoisted him up by his mangled suit jacket and held him out at a long arms length. The lack of stable ground beneath him told the blond what he already knew, just reinforcing it in his mind for cruel laughter of a higher being, and he felt the cliff behind him in the fingers of wind fresh from the sea tugged at his hair and face as ruthlessly as the ocean itself like it was trying to lure him up, up into the air to join it before he'd plummet. The all consuming guilt of knowing that he'd failed his friends that relied on him as much as they did the others was the only thing that mattered and no amount of apology could ever replace his broken promise to protect them. He would die here, forgotten by the rest of the world save for eight people who would forever remember him as the one who couldn't keep his word. He closed his eyes and waited, hysterically marvelling at the fact that time seemed to move much slower when death was at play as he hung there. Waiting for the consequence of his failings and rushed actions.

At no point had the possibility of a rescue crossed his mind and the brutality of being bodily rammed aside had him opening his eyes in shock to an incoherent blur of colour before closing them again tightly as the force of impact rattled his bones and the flesh of his cheek met the coolness and tickling of blades of grass. He forced himself into alertness once more but the picture of the scene unfolding took a while to focus in his blurry eyes and even longer to process. His surroundings were easy to take in. He was but a few feet away from the partner of his losing fight with the lower half of his face and his body pressed into the grass whereas the upper half was resting against the cold rock of the overhang of the cliff's edge, giving him a spectacular view of the slope down to the beach below where the waves licked patiently, all the way up to the two men now stood on the edge.

He'd thought delirium must've taken over his rational thoughts because that other man, stocky and shorter than the looming Haki user, couldn't have been Zoro. It had been for some time now an unspoken rule between the two of them that though they have each other's backs, interfering with either's fights was strictly forbidden. Both of them had a ridiculous amount of pride that only seemed to rear its head when provoked by one another and under no circumstances did Sanji want to allow Zoro to win his battles and Zoro felt likewise.

He had a compelling urge to call out to the pirate and let him know that this was a problem he could handle himself but something in the way the other was looking at him prevented him from doing so. He never thought he'd ever apply it to the man but Zoro was undeniably concerned and irrevocably angry. Rage was clawed into every aspect of his features and stance, but his hate was not directed as it usually was towards Sanji but to the man that he was facing off. The blond wanted to tell him to stop, to get him away before he got hurt too and fulfilled that guilt that had embedded itself in him already to consume him from the inside out. Yet his voice, quiet from the shock and pain, would not carry over the screams of metal on metal or the exhortations of both Nakama and enemy alike. All he could do was lie there with his view of the cliff and the sea and reach out his arm slightly, as though his bleeding palm and digits could pull Zoro towards him and out of harm's way.

He understood what Zoro was doing, if it were the swordsman in danger he'd be doing the same thing because sometimes... sometimes pride had to be set aside to make way for the more important things like your friends and their lives. Sanji felt no real spite towards the green haired man and in all honesty he never really had. Zoro was important and always would be regardless of the way the cook treated him because he was Nakama and that always came first above all. But he didn't want to live through this again. This scene was recalling painful memories of a rescue from Zoro before. From when he'd almost got himself killed and Sanji had screamed for Chopper to help as the swordsman bled out. Zoro had almost died the last time he'd saved the blond and Sanji had guilt enough from that experience and now Zoro was helping to dig that well in his consciousness deeper.

It all happened in short, quick successions that Sanji would come later to process in the Infirmary consumed by his grief and self-loathing. The Haki user was suddenly at the edge before he stumbled and disappeared out of sight down a side of the cliff hidden from his view and Zoro stood as the victor, his swords still held out in front of him, but Sanji had an inkling that something wasn't right. The swordsman was upright but with a curve in his back, like was hunched over and waiting for something. Something that came in a vile hack of wounded organs as blood, thick and congealed drooled from an open mouth leaving a stunned silence to settle before the hurl of vomiting red barrelled its way in. Zoro's swords clattered to the ground, Wado stained red on her pure white hilt from her master's blood, and the man staggered a few steps back.

Sanji let out a cry that only ever came out at speaking level. Just one simple word, as if it could change anything, "No..."

Zoro's foot slipped on the edge of the rock and hung there a second, two, three, and Sanji found himself praying that some sort of help would come or it'd pan out like those comic strips in the newspapers that Nami bought: that Zoro would fall into a comical splat but pop up again soon after, or that he could quickly run out of the air and back onto solid ground. But comics weren't real and this was reality with its unforgiving gravity and its laws of physics. Zoro blinked once and fell.

Sanji didn't know if it was better or worse that the angle the swordsman fell at was directly in his line of sight, looking out over the cliff edge. On one hand he wasn't able to worry about what happened to him if he couldn't see him, but on the other he'd have to live through what he'd seen.

Zoro's descent was not an easy one and he prayed that the man had lost consciousness after the first large rock leaning out from the cliff face collided with his head. The swordsman was limp and tumbled down like a rag doll cast aside by a spoilt child as gravity worked its vile magic on him, smashing his body off rocks and ridges and juts and finally catching him at the last distance before rolling him steadily to a halt in the damper sand where the waves danced.

Sanji waited though he wasn't sure what for, it wasn't as though Zoro was going to get back up after that but some part of his mind clung on to the dwindling hope that he would. He aimed his thoughts at the broken body with its limbs akimbo as though he could will him somehow to get back up, to be alright. The dream like hope Sanji had surrounded himself in shattered like sugar glass at the eerily dark patch that wept its way out into the sand from under Zoro, looking like an angry blemish on perfect skin. It kept coming back, no matter how often the soft waves rushed up to wash it away. Sanji's eyes burned something furious and a hollow, disturbing feeling latched onto him and festered there, feeding off this image he was seeing. Only two things were important in his mind as he lay there, looking down at his Nakama who was splayed out oddly on the shore; one, Zoro was dead, two, it was all his fault.

Sanji allowed himself one torn sob but he was certain more had followed after as he was left to lie there, looking at Zoro's body as the battle continued on, unable to wash the awful image of the man's fall from his guilt laden mind.


	3. Broken Up

**AN: A little bit of a break up ZoSan.**

* * *

><p>"It's fine Zoro, really, don't beat yourself up over it. I'm happy you told me the truth now rather than further down the line. You told me the truth early on so you wouldn't jerk me around later... Takes courage to do something like that," Clare said, she had a sad smile on her face but Zoro could see the relief in her eyes despite this breakup. He was glad she hadn't got too attached. She opened the front door a little wider, "Are you sure you don't want a drink? We could talk. It might help to get it off your chest?"<p>

Zoro politely declined his now ex-girlfriend's too kind an offer, "I have stuff to do- paperwork to fill in- but thank you, really."

"Well, okay," Clare said, a worried look pulling at her brow, "But you're always welcome here, Zoro. We didn't work out but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

"Thanks, Clare. That means a lot."

The young woman sighed and brought her arms around him suddenly, holding him tight, "Just promise me you'll look after yourself."

Zoro huffed fondly at the other's concern for him and returned the hug, "I'm sorry about breaking up with you like this," He murmured into her shoulder.

"It's fine. But Zoro," She pulled away to look him straight in the eye, "I know he's a great guy and I know how much you love him and still love him but it's been over a year now. Don't you think it's time to move on?"

"But I-"

Clare cut his protest short, "I was your rebound fling, Zoro. Even if you didn't realise it you only asked me out thinking he'd come back. But I'm talking about something serious. Not with me- I'm not looking to be tied down just yet- I mean someone who'll love you just as much as you love them. You'll find them someday. You gave him his chance and he didn't come back, but there's plenty more out there than just him, you know?"

"Yeah," Zoro said, "I understand."

"Good luck, Zoro. In everything you're looking for."

"You too, Clare. I'll see you soon?"

"Sure thing," She smiled, "We're still friends."

He left, her shutting the door behind him and he got into his car, headed for home.

_"Leave it on," Sanji said again, slapping Zoro's hand playfully away from the radio buttons to save the track playing from being cut short._

_Zoro wrinkled his nose, "Ew. No. This song is shit."_

_"Ugh, you've no taste, marimo head. It's a fucking good song, okay?" The blond sighed, poking Zoro in the ribs as punishment with a grin and the green haired man relented, leaving the station on. He leaned back against the passenger door, head against the window, content to watch his lover tap the steering wheel in time to the beat. Sanji took a quick glance at him before looking at the road, "What're you looking at?"_

_"A dumbass."_

_"Oi!" The blond said, "You're the dumbass."_

_"I must be if I fell for you," Zoro hummed, smirking as a soft bloom of dark red tainted the pale skin of the other's face._

_"Shut up moss head..."_

_"Shut up, you love me."_

_The red got deeper, "Maybe I don't."_

_"Maybe you do..."_

_"Shut up!"_

_Zoro started laughing but was stopped when Sanji pulled over and firmly kissed him into being silent._

Zoro locked the door after him and threw the keys into the glass jar on the little side table by the coat pegs and kicked off his shoes, moving into the kitchen and grabbing himself a can of beer. He'd stopped expecting to see Sanji in here a long time ago, but every no and then he'd walk in and the knowledge would hit him anew that Sanji really wasn't going to come back. Ever.

He settled himself down on the sofa and turned on the tv for background noise, taking a swig of beer. Telling Clare had taken a weight off his shoulders. They hadn't been dating very long, just a few weeks, and they'd gone no further than kissing because Zoro couldn't bring himself to fool around some with her and he hated to admit that she'd been right- Zoro had dated her as a rebound. At least she still wanted to be a part of his life unlike Sanji. He took a deeper, more desperate gulp of beer. It had felt strange, wrong almost, kissing Clare. It wasn't the same as kissing Sanji and it left a hollow feeling in his chest whenever her lips had met his.

_Zoro's eyes opened to something warm and moist pressing against his lips. He blinked a few times, and smiled against Sanji's mouth that was kissing at his own. Sanji pulled away and Zoro made a small grumbling noise at that, "Mmn, what was that for?"_

_Sanji smirked and pressed more kisses to Zoro's lips, fingers running through green hair and Zoro became aware of the fact that the blond was draped over him, pressed tightly against his chest and stomach, "You fell asleep... on the sofa..." Sanji said between kisses._

_"And that warrants being kissed like this?" Zoro panted._

_Sanji pulled back with a smile, "I saw an opportunity and I took it. Also," He kissed Zoro's cheek, "I was hoping we could have sex."_

_Zoro chuckled and brought his arms around the blond's lithe form, running rough hands up a smooth and muscled back, "That sounds like a great idea..."_

_"I'm glad you're so on board with it," Sanji snickered and kissed him again, this time more deeply and with more meaning._

Zoro woke up but not to Sanji's mouth on his and pawed at his phone. 2 AM. He sighed deeply, "Sanji..."

He peeled himself off the sofa, cracking out his back and stiff joints before collapsing into his own double bed, not bothering to take off his clothes and change. He stuffed his arms under the pillow and mushed his face into it to block out the room and the cold hard fact that Sanji's old half of the bed remained empty, untouched, and cold. Just like it had been for almost a year.


	4. Finding Words

**AN: This used to be a oneshot of mine called Finding Words but I'm tidying things up and put it on here. This is from a warm up drabble I did once on Tumblr.**

* * *

><p>Sanji tapped his feet anxiously, a new habit that had developed out of visiting here, and the soles of his shoes clapped against the tiled floor. He shifted in his seat so that one elbow was propped on his knee and the other arm was resting on the edge of the bed. He placed his chin in his hand and tilted his head, watching as he stretched his fingers to fondle the soft blue sheets. Just slightly out of reach was the other man's arm, taut with muscle and richly tanned.<p>

He swallowed thickly, as much as he'd like to he couldn't ignore the man in the other bed any longer. He closed his eyes tightly before opening them and sighed, letting his gaze trail up the tan arm to the face of the man. Sanji watched as Roronoa Zoro slept soundly, his breaths deep and even but the blonde knew that it was only a pace set up by the tube through his neck and the machine the opposite side of the bed. If that machine wasn't there then... Sanji fisted the sheet tightly in his hand and bit the inside of his cheek painfully hard. No, no, he wouldn't think of that. He couldn't.

The breathing apparatus hissed again and Zoro's lungs filled with air that he couldn't take in on his own. Sanji wasn't lying to himself, he knew full well that his best friend wasn't able to breathe alone, it was just that he couldn't bring himself to think that the only thing keeping him alive was something connected to a plug socket in the wall with a switch that could so easily be flicked off. It terrified him more than he'd ever admit.

The blip of the heart monitor did nothing to ease him either. The sound of it made him uncomfortably conflicted; on one hand he was happy that it was reminding him the other man's heart was still working but on the other he was constantly afraid that each bleep could have been his last. Zoro was out of the danger zone in regards to the internal bleeding and his head injuries but the doctors couldn't tell Sanji for sure if he'd make it. Not even Trafalgar or Chopper could give him an answer and if two of the best doctors in the world were at a loss then there was naught else to do but wait.

Vaguely, Sanji wondered if Zoro knew he was there in the room next to his bed. The swordsman had always had this weird way of knowing when the blonde had entered or left a room, even if Sanji had made no noise. He pulled his eyes away from the haunting image of Zoro's bandaged head and cable tangled body to look back down at the hand he'd originally been staring at. He covered it with his own and gave it a gentle squeeze, willing silently for the idiot to get off that goddamn stupid bed and out of his 'sleep'. Sanji had never liked the word coma. It sounded daunting, unsure and clinical. So he'd simply named Zoro's state as 'sleeping' because people woke up from sleep, they didn't lie there till they died like people in comas could and besides, he knew Zoro would wake up. Zoro was strong.

As he held his friend's hand in his own, Sanji felt he should say something- anything. Chopper said that though talking may seem a ridiculous idea, coma patients had been known to hear and remember conversations or words from visiting family and friends but no matter how hard he tried, Sanji just couldn't seem to find the words to say. Right now, his mind was a blank slate and gave his mouth no offer of what words were appropriate. It felt awkward, trying to talk to someone who didn't respond. It wasn't right. He wanted Zoro's laugh, his smug grin whenever he wound Sanji up or taunted him for chasing girls. He wanted Zoro to make snarky comments and snide comebacks just like he used to.

Sanji wanted everything to be back to the way it used to be.

Maybe it was a little selfish of him but he couldn't help but think Zoro wasn't being fair. How could he leave his best friend like this? Sanji had been a wreck since day one of the Marimo's accident and if anything he'd gotten worse. His eyes were heavy and framed by dark bags that would put Trafalgar's to shame and his concentration seemed to flit around erratically like an injured bird. He could barely focus on the simplist of things; he'd found himself too many a time heading to his room in the apartment he shared with Zoro with the full intent of doing something only to stop in his tracks when the reason he was moving seemed to vanish from his mind. His cooking had suffered and so had his fingers, his hands getting so jittery at times that when he was slicing up vegetables he ended up cutting into himself. Zeff had forced him into a sick leave so he could 'Get his shit together' as his father so kindly put it before kicking him out.

If anything, being out of work had only made it worse. The blonde rarely emerged from the apartment. He had his shopping delivered to his door, declined any and all invitations to go out and took time in answering missed calls and texts though the only productive thing he was doing was breathing. Maybe it was because of the doubt. That niggling, horrible feeling of dread that prowled the dark recesses of his mind during the day and had him waking up in cold sweats at night. Because somewhere, deep deep inside of him, Sanji believed Zoro would not wake up at all and that all he'd have left of his friend was the memories.

Recollections of the past couldn't answer Sanji with sharp wit, or snore loudly on the sofa, fight him when he was angry or calm him when he was upset. They couldn't make a solid version of a man the blonde used to joke with, smile with, or make a special breakfast for when he was hung over. They couldn't fill the empty void or the chilling quiet that followed Sanji around the apartment like some unwanted spirit. They would never satisfy his need and want for his best friend back.

Memories can't replace Zoro.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Sanji began to gather himself up onto his feet and ruefully took his hand away from Zoro's limp and warm one. He pulled his coat over his shoulders and left in the same silence he'd entered with, looking back at the other once for a long moment before shaking his head to himself and shutting the door.

Sanji still had no idea what to say.


	5. Shark

**AN: This one was for shinysoroka on Tumblr who wanted Sanji in a modern AU as a sole survivor of a shipwreck.**

His oxygen was cutting out. His lungs burned like fire in his chest and his legs, snagged in a tangle of rope and chain, prevented him from fighting back against the water. The saltiness burned his eyes as the dark shapes of fragmented ship sunk around him, falling languidly to the sea bed meters below in the pitch black.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end. He hadn't found All Blue yet. He hadn't opened his own restaurant. He hadn't even said goodbye to Zeff nor repaid the old geezer for that old debt. It was quite ironic really that his actual death would be the one Zeff had saved him from all those years ago.

He was blacking out now. Good. At least it was going to be painless. He didn't fancy being incinerated like some of the others on the once-been ship. He didn't even know why he was bothering to hold his breath anymore. It wasn't as though anyone was going to bother saving him. He was going to drown, die, and eventually become fodder for the fish. Not exactly a soothing thought but hey, he had to be realistic here.

"There's one still alive..?"

The voice that somehow reached his ears was clear, a rich, deep voice- gruff and manly. But how could he hear it so clearly, wouldn't it be muffled and distorted by the water? Perhaps the lack of oxygen was making him hear things.

A dark shape swam past his vision in the green, murky salt water. It darted, swam closer, and got clearer inch by inch. It was a guy. Tanned and muscled with cropped hair, three earrings in his left ear and four gills slicing through each side of his neck. Wait. Gills?! The man pulled up so that the whole of him was visible and Sanji had to fight himself to keep the last bit of air he had and not scream. The man had a body but it ended at his hips where the tanned skin flowed down and down in a greyish tone to resemble the tail of a shark. The man looked Sanji up and down with his one eye, the scar where the other one should be was now visible, and the blond noticed the hideous scar that ran from left shoulder to right hip on the man... no... shark man?

"How come you're not dead yet?" The shark man mused. His eye narrowed, "The others are dead..."

His voice was coming through crystal clear, as though Sanji were on dry land and was being spoken to.

The shark man sighed, a stream of bubbles gushing out of his mouth in a way that made Sanji want oxygen more than ever. The shark man slunk up to him, grey tail coiling behind his trapped legs and tugging him closer into the shark man's grasp. Two strong, tanned hands held his arms securely and Sanji felt the almost soothing heat seep through to them.

"You need air," The shark man said simply and before Sanji could even nod a pair of lips slid over his own. He bucked in surprise and one of the shark man's hands slid up to hold his jaw and kept him close, applying enough pressure so that against his will his mouth opened. A rush of air forced itself into his crippled lungs and he pulled back with a gasp, stunned when no water entered his mouth and drowned him. He sucked in another breath, the water evaporating into cool air in his mouth every time he breathed in. He remembered the kids stories of mermaids who'd save drowning sailors with one of their kisses and whisk them away to their underwater palaces to live out their happily ever afters. Sanji looked the shark guy, whom was looking at him intensely, up and down. Well... merman, he supposed, and this guy was certainly not going to be whisking him off anywhere fancy and beautiful any time soon.

"You need to go back to the shore." The shark guy scowled, "Back where you belong."

The shark man unwound his tail and dived down to the tangled of rope and chain where he bared his teeth and Sanji saw a row of jagged shark canines before they bit through, cracking the links and slicing the rope like a hot knife through butter. Sanji wriggled his legs free as the shark guy pushed him up and pointed upwards with a webbed finger.

"Head for the surface. Humans will be here soon." He said and twisted, lashing with his powerful tail and darting away into the murky depths below.

Sanji finally broke the surface, clawing desperately at a piece of fractured ship and found his voice enough to yell out as the emergency services finally came for him, but his mind remained truly focused on the merman who still lurked below.

* * *

><p>The road to recovery hadn't been an easy one. Physiotherapy for one of his legs which had apparently broken when the tangled rope and chain pulled taut on him had been a gruelling experience he had no wish to encounter ever again. He'd been all over the news as the sole survivor of that wreck and had been diagnosed with PTSD because of course telling your therapist that you'd seen a half man half shark with scars and green hair would get you diagnosed like that.<p>

He'd stopped taking his tablets a while ago and he never brought up that merman ever again. Even Zeff, his cranky old man, looked at him strangely most days like he wanted to say something but wouldn't. He wished he'd never spoken about that damn shark man in the first place. He should've just left it as an hallucination from oxygen starvation. But it had felt so real.

Most nights he woke to the sensation of that cool tail sliding around his calves and the hand on his jaw holding him to a pair of soft lips. It had spooked him the first time he'd dreamed about the mysterious shark man who'd saved him from what would have been certain death because it was the first time in a long time that he had dreamed about something without at least one woman in it. Now it had been a long time since he'd dreamed of anything but the merman with his long tail and sharp teeth. Every night he felt the touch of those strong webbed fingers on his jaw and the forcing open of his mouth. He rarely dreamed of much else.

He'd tried to find the merman again. He'd made a trip to the place he'd nearly drowned in the hope that the shark man would be there but he hadn't been. After that he'd given up the idea of possibly meeting the creature who had saved him but he hadn't forgotten him. Dark eyes, scarred skin, and that bizarre green hair was something that didn't leave the mind easily after all.

Hearing the door to the restaurant ping, Sanji sighed and smoothed out his suit jacket. He was craving a cigarette but he'd promised his old man he would take Patty's shift considering the other cook was off sick so that was out of the question for at least another hour. Anyway, it wasn't like he was doing anything particularly difficult, he was only manning the drinks bar after all and that was much better than spending an extra few hours over a cooker especially in hot summer weather like this.

"Umm... hello?"

Sanji froze, his back facing the customer at the counter and his hand stilled on moving the damp cloth over the surface before him as the deep, rough voice met him. He knew that voice. He knew that voice anywhere. The one that had cut through the water that day, told him to go to the surface to be saved, and belonged to a smooth set of lips that had closed over his. He swallowed and turned.

The face that met him was the one he'd wanted to see for so long, the green hair and the scarred left eye that had been forced closed. But where the gills had been was a smooth, flawlessly tanned neck and the three earrings hung from the left ear still. And where the shark tail should have been was a pair of human legs that Sanji could see through the glass panels beneath the bar top.

The apparently once been shark man was looking at him with a stunned expression and a wide dark eye. Sanji blinked, the shark man recognised him, "You..." The blond breathed before chuckling a little hysterically, "You have a lot to answer for you bastard." He whispered.

The green haired man stepped away from the counter, "I'm not thirsty after all." He said.

Sanji slammed the cloth down, "Oh no you don't, get back here!"

The man turned and bolted, shouldering the door open. Sanji grit his teeth and followed suit, ignoring Zeff's furious yelling to get his ass back behind the counter before he kicked it there. This man wasn't going to get away again and Sanji was going to get his answers.


	6. Mutated

**AN: A random mutant Zoro and Sanji thing I came up with on Tumblr a while back.**

Using the rough edge of a scaly knuckle, he carved another line and drew it straight through four others in a diagonal cut. 145 days since they'd grabbed him off the street and locked him up here away from sight. He was hungry but food scarcely arrived. He hurt but no one would give him pain meds to soothe it. He was tired but sleep was scarce too considering the man in the cell beside him looked like a walking nightmare.

They'd clearly worked on him, much like they had worked on Sanji, but this... no man could surely survive what they did to him. Sanji had asked for his name once and only once, the guttural snarl he'd got in response was an answer enough, so he'd stuck with 'marimo'- a name that much suited the cropped spiky green hair atop his head.

Every other week they'd come into marimo's cell and drag him away and not once did he ever try to fight them. Sanji wished he would because it was getting hard to tell if the guy was actually alive anymore because he barely moved as it was, laying on his side on the cold floor of the cell. Only the irregular movements of his chest told the blond he was still breathing.

This time though, when they threw him back in, Sanji was certain marimo was dead. Tanned hands and chest were bound with red spattered bandages and a heavy amount of gauze and tape was stuck fast over his left eye. He lay there limply on his back and didn't move.

"Oi..." Sanji croaked, clearing his throat, "Oi, marimo?"

Marimo said nothing and Sanji's chest tightened. He was dead. No. No, they wouldn't have hauled him back if he had died, so he must still be alive even if just barely.

The blond crawled his way over, too tired to pick himself up, and let his scaled feet and lower legs drag after him, scraping on the ground. He reached out at the bars that separated their cells and held it in a taloned grasp.

"Marimo?" He asked again, trying to hold the tremor back. If they'd killed marimo then there was no telling what they'd do to him next. His long claw like nails clacked on the metal bars, "Don't be dead..." He muttered, "Please don't be fucking dead."

He shook his arm though the sturdy bar did not give in to a rattle. He looked at marimo's chest, gaze intense, and no matter how hard he willed it to there was no steady rise and fall. Sanji's claws scraped down the bar as his hand, flecked with scales, slid to the ground, "No, marimo..." He breathed. Sanji barely knew the guy, didn't even know his name, but with marimo dead something still tore out of him. Perhaps it was his will. His will to fight every time the guards grabbed him until he was forcibly knocked out with drugs. There was no point in fighting them anymore because if they could kill someone as strong as marimo then they could easily kill him too. He let out a shaky breath and looked down at his hand which lay reached out into marimo's cell, a short distance away from the man's body. Sanji blinked, an idea forming in his head.

Gathering his feet under him Sanji leaned forward so that his shoulder joint was pressed in between two bars and he could extend his arm at full length. He patted around until his clawed hand met what vaguely felt like an arm and he hooked his fingers underneath, holding on tight before pulling.

His arm ground in its socket as he pulled and Sanji hissed in pain. Damn, this guy was heavier than he looked... He pulled, eventually dragging marimo's body to a distance where he could get both hands around the arm and tugged him in close so that his bandaged side pressed against the bars and Sanji could put his arms through and fit his head through the middle- the bars were only about a heads width apart. Resting his palms on the man's bandaged chest, he placed his hands on top of each other and rose up on his knees to push down.

1...2...3...4...5...

He leaned his head down, craned his neck, and moved his hands up to open the man's mouth and sucked in a breath before forcing it into the man's airway.

"Come on shitty marimo..." He growled before repeating the whole thing again and again until the green haired man gasped and spluttered, hacking violently, and Sanji fell back in relief as he watched the man slowly but surely turn from deathly pale to more of a healthier hue.

He waited for the man's ragged breathing to ease slightly before asking, "You alright?"

"Do... I... fucking look it...?" The man panted, screwing his non bandaged eye shut and Sanji stared as for the first time in 145 days the man had spoken to him. He had a deep voice although it was a little hoarse and an accent he couldn't place. Marimo tried to sit up but Sanji's hands darted back out and pushed him down.

"You need to rest."

"Like hell you can tell me what to-" Marimo paused at the sight and feeling of Sanji's talons pressing against his chest, "They got you too, huh?" He asked.

Sanji thought of how long marimo would be unconscious for most days and how he was hazy and disorientated other days, so of course he wouldn't have seen what hell they'd put on the blond's body. Slowly he pulled his hand away, his once flawless hand now marred, ruined, by black chunks of scale, "Yeah... Got me too."

"I'm... I think I'm gonna... gonna pass out..." Marimo slurred slightly, and Sanji saw the distant look in his one eye. The green haired man coughed, "Don't go anywhere..."

Sanji could hear the underlying plea of 'please' but said nothing by it. Perhaps some time ago he would've no doubt been snide and called this man weak for needing someone, but that was then and this was now. Now he understood true torture and pain and this man had been brave through all of it and had endured and lived on.

He looked at marimo's limp hand and picked it up and held it in his own, "I won't go." He said.

Marimo hummed thoughtfully, "It's Zoro, by the way."

Sanji nodded, smiling slightly, "Sanji."

Zoro said nothing in reply and when the blond looked up he had passed out. He held the limp bandaged hand tighter, he wouldn't leave and if they came for him he would fight the whole way through the corridors. He would fight them all. Sanji sighed, "I'll find us a way out, Zoro. I promise."


	7. Jeanne

**AN: A family ZoSan/SanZo where the two end up adopting a little girl called Jeanne. Canon verse.**

Heading below deck, Zoro stifled a yawn behind one of his hands, the other holding the freshly washed and dried bed sheets Nami had handed to him not five minutes ago in exchange for his green coat which the red headed navigator couldn't bear to look at in its filthy state. It wasn't Zoro's fault, he just hadn't had the time to wash it- being a dad was hard, you know?

Skipping the last step with a small jump, the swordsman continued on down the hall to his and Sanji's now shared bedroom which Franky had built in a two years ago after Jeanne's unexpected joining to the crew. It had been quite a shock for all of them when Sanji returned back late to the Sunny holding a little baby girl in his arms in place of his grocery bags.

Looking back on it, Zoro was ashamed to admit that he'd told the cook to put the kid back where it'd come from. He hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh and cruel but he had to step up and voice the concerns of all the other members of the crew considering Luffy thought having a baby on the ship was a great idea regardless of the dangers they all faced on a regular basis.

Of course, that had started an argument. And a vicious one it was. The worst thing was that Sanji had refused to settle it with a physical fight and stuck to verbally striking the marimo down. Zoro was bad with conveying words most of the time and he'd found it hard to express what he was trying to say so everything that came out of his mouth just sounded even more awful.

It was the only time Sanji had ever punched him. Zoro remembered clearly what he had said to provoke that reaction and he was anything but proud of it.

"Just... Just put that fucking thing back!"

Zoro flinched as the cruel words invaded his mind and the ghost of Sanji's clenched fist brushed against his mouth.

"Thing?! It's a person, fucker! A little girl. You can't just expect me to fucking leave her where I found her- she'd die, bastard! She'd... She'd have starved to death if I'd left her there..."

Zoro could see Sanji's face, imploring him with the glimmers of god knows what horrors haunting in the cook's eyes. But what the blond said next was what made him cave in.

"We could have a family, Zoro."

The swordsman had stalled at that. A family? Really? That's what the cook wanted? They'd gone over that before in the past but Sanji hadn't seemed so bothered by the prospect as he had back then so Zoro had left it as an open conversation in which they could rekindle at any time.

"Zoro..."

The use of his name had let him know that Sanji was serious about this and when he looked at the cook, he could see the silent 'please?' in his face. He didn't know what to say. Was he even ready for this? Then Chopper and Luffy had picked that moment to walk in, the little reindeer doctor running circles around his captain and squeaking not to drop the baby to which Luffy laughed and promised he wouldn't. Zoro had took one look at the tiny infant swathe in a blanket in Luffy's arms and shook his head.

"Cook, I- I dunno..."

It had been an honest answer but it didn't mean Sanji had to be happy about it. The cook had grit his teeth and left the room, almost knocking Chopper over on his way out. Zoro hadn't called after him because Sanji never listened to him when he was in that kind of mood. Chopper had excused himself and left, probably to try and calm Sanji down and Zoro had been about to do the same when Luffy stopped him.

"What happened, Zoro?" He asked calmly, gaze serious and clashing with the tenderness with which he held the baby girl.

"Nothing," Zoro had said.

"You can tell me, you know. I'm your captain but you're my crew and my Nakama. Nakama are meant to be happy together, not sad."

"He... thinks we should kee-" He stalled, looking for a better word, "We should adopt her. He wants to start a family..." The words had sounded heavy in the quiet of the kitchen galley.

"And what do you want, Zoro?"

A soft whimper came from the bundle in Luffy's arms and the swordsman's eyes looked down instantly at it as a tiny figure wriggled and fought to roll over in the arms that held her. Zoro had watched as a sharp cry of frustration had him meeting big blue eyes. One dark eye met them and the little girl gurgled happily, a tiny hand being thrown into the air, connected to a little arm. Zoro had softened when he'd seen the few blonde locks that were fair like her skin and the big blue eyes had continued to stare.

"...She's like him..." He said, voice a whisper as though he were afraid it might break, "She's so like him..."

"That's what I said!" Luffy laughed, grinning and bouncing the little girl slightly.

Subconsciously, Zoro's hand had raised of its own accord to reach out to this little girl he couldn't help but see his cook in. Luffy smiled.

"D'you wanna hold her?"

Zoro didn't remember answering it but either way he'd ended up with the little girl in his strong arms and his one eyed gaze looking down at her face with its dimpled cheeks. She'd smiled, hands making excessive grabbing movements at him and he swapped her to one cradled arm, his then free hand taking both of hers in a gentle grasp.

Luffy nodded, "You'll make a great dad, Zoro."

When he'd told Sanji his answer the cook had been... well, delighted didn't even begin to describe it. It seemed not even one kiss could convey the cook's happiness. Zoro had never received that many kisses from the cook that day than he had in the whole time he'd been with the idiot blond.

And so Sanji had named her Jeanne, a French name but Zoro didn't care because they'd decided the first time a prospect of family had been brought up that Sanji would name him or, in this case, her. He liked the name too, it suited her and he told Sanji he preferred the cook's surname to go with it rather than his own. Jeanne Roronoa didn't have the same ring to it as Jeanne Bleu. Sanji had called him a sap for that, but agreed.

Jeanne was almost three now and what a beautiful girl she was, all golden hair and bold blue eyes with little dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. Her freckled nose and cheeks much like the cook's and Zoro teased her for it too, pinning her down playfully to count them much like he did to Sanji and smiling as she shrieked with laughter.

Speaking of her laugh, he could hear it now as he got closer to their room. The loud shriek followed by huffy high pitched chuckles echoing down the hall to mingle with Sanji's voice laughing and telling her to stop being so noisy. He could hear music playing too.

Stopping at the slightly ajar door, Zoro peeped through the gap to see his cook and his daughter together. Both were standing with Jeanne stood on Sanji's shoes whilst he held her hands. Her little dress with its puffed ruffles shook as Sanji stepped in time with the beat of the tone dial on the chest of drawers nailed into the floor.

Jeanne's face was screwed up in concentration as she stared down at her's and Sanji's moving feet before she looked up with a smile, "Daddy!" She said.

Sanji laughed, "That's right! Look, Jeanne, you're doing it!"

Jeanne grinned proudly, "Yes! Yes!"

Zoro must've caught them near the end of the song because the waltz music began to slow and then ceased all together. Jeanne yawned as she shuffled off Sanji's shoes and held up her arms to him. The blond smiled tenderly and lifted her up onto his hip as she curled her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Zoro stayed still and watched, transfixed as Sanji bounced his daughter gently to sleep, shushing her softly and talking in a soothing voice, "I wonder where that idiot dad of yours got to..." He paced slowly to the rhythm of the bobbing ship, pleased to find the little girl closed her eyes and her grip on him slackened. He moved to the other side of the room and Zoro looked on as he tucked her into the small single bed just her size and pulled over the covers to keep her warm whilst she napped, deciding to leave her in her dress rather than put in her pyjamas and disrupt her. He sat down on the edge of her bed and leaned over, placing a kiss to her forehead, "Sweet dreams, my little All Blue."

Zoro smiled and came out from hiding behind the door to whisper fondly, "You're a hopeless sap, aren't you?"

Sanji threw a cuddly toy at him in response.


	8. Chest Infection

**AN: Same family ZoSan/SanZo with Jeanne. Jeanne is ill.**

Jeanne had been burning up a fever for a few hours now and the crying showed no signs of stopping. She was in her own bed, Chopper not wanting to move her and cause her more distress. He smiled as he passed the small bottle and a teaspoon over to Zoro, "They're antibiotics to help clear up her chest. It's a mild chest infection but she should be alright by the end of the week, okay? She needs one spoon of that three times a day; so that's one at breakfast, one at lunch and one at dinner. Keep her mainly to fluids and don't worry if she hasn't much of an appetite- chest infections make people like that- but try and get her to eat something, I suggest a soup or stew of sorts. Don't give her anything chocolate because it'll only stick to her throat and mouth and that'll be more difficult to cough up than just the mucus alone. Right, any questions?"

Sanji shook his head as Zoro took the antibiotic bottle and proceeded to thank the little doctor. Zoro looked up, "Yeah, I have one. How can we get her to stop crying?"

"Marimo!"

"What? It's a genuine question!"

"To stop yelling would probably help!" Chopper chirped, "Kids just cry a lot when they get sick because it hurts and it's confusing for them. Just be there for her and comfort her, maybe freshen up the cloth on her forehead every so often to help bring her fever down. Talk quietly and try to keep her entertained for a while. She should become quite docile soon though, I gave her some antibiotics already and they'll make her sleepy for a while. Just let her sleep it off, like you guys do when you're injured."

"Okay..." Zoro said, "Thanks for the medicine, Chopper."

"And for being such a good doctor," Sanji added.

The little reindeer blushed, "Shut up, idiots. Your compliments don't make me happy..."

Chopper left shortly after, leaving the two with their screaming daughter. Sanji went immediately to her, cooing and hushing with tender touches to reassure her, "It's okay, daddy's here... It's alright, I'm here."

"Oh, 'cause I'm not her dad either, am I?" Zoro mumbled, unable to sit on the little girl's bed considering Sanji was taking up the space. He wasn't jealous that the cook had got to their daughter first.

He wasn't.

Sitting on their own bed, he watched as Sanji kissed Jeanne's forehead softly, worry and concern in his eyes. Zoro would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same. The poor kid had just come down with it out of nowhere and began wailing and coughing and burning up. Sanji's paternal instinct had told him to panic and Zoro had been shaken awake to a dishevelled looking blond holding the crying toddler to his chest in nothing but his pyjama bottoms looking like he was about to break down himself. Zoro had had to reassure him that their little girl was just sick and Chopper would make her better. It had took Zoro a lot of convincing, but he'd managed to calm the cook down. Normally he would've laughed at Sanji for such a thing, but he was feeling the exact same way himself only he could hide it better.

The crying began to let up slightly and soon Jeanne had reduced it to nothing but sniffles and a few hiccoughs. Zoro watched as the girl's eyes began to slide shut and noticed how one of Sanji's hands was rubbing soothing circles on her belly whilst the other wiped tears from her cheeks, "It's an amazing place... I'll- we'll find it one day, my little princess." The blond hummed and it took Zoro a moment to realise Sanji was talking about All Blue to her once again. Jeanne loved the story of it and when all else failed it calmed her down. Zoro smiled slightly, a warmth of fondness in his chest as he watched his cook soothe their little girl back to sleep. As soon as he was sure she was sleeping, he looked up to see the moss head smirking at him,

"What?" He whispered.

"Nothing..." Zoro said quietly, getting to his feet to lean down and press his lips to Sanji's, "She'll be fine," he said.

A week later however, it was Zoro in bed with a chest infection, much worse than his daughter whom he'd contracted it off because he rarely got sick and his body was going into overdrive to fight the infection. He coughed so hard he thought his lungs had knotted and panted into the sheets, barely aware of the little weight on his legs until it poked him. He just about raised his head to see Jeanne crawling up the bed to lay beside him. Zoro blinked hard and cleared his throat, "Jeanne, I can't play right now..."

"No." Jeanne said, "No play."

Zoro sighed, relieved, but jumped when her little hand rubbed circles on the patch of bed sheets that covered his stomach.

"Make daddy feel better," She said, a look of concentration on her face as she rubbed his stomach.

Zoro chuckled, coughing slightly, "I feel better already, Jeanne."

She beamed at him.


	9. To Hell With It

**AN: for an anon who wanted a ZoSan drabble with the theme of the phrase 'To Hell with it'.**

Zoro had built it up and backed out of it, built it up and backed out of it again and again and again and he was done with running away from it. Running away was a cowardly thing and Roronoa Zoro was not a coward. This was an obstacle he needed to overcome.

"There are three possible outcomes," Franky said, leaning forward and setting his bottle of cola onto the coffee table, "One: He says no and you cry over your broken little heart. Two: He says yes and you two take it steady from there. Or three: He says yes and the next thing you know you're pinned to the bed naked with him on top of you."

"I'm betting on the third one, who's with me?" Nami said, placing ten bucks on the table top.

"Oi, oi! Stop turning everything into a bet!" Zoro barked, glaring at his red headed room mate.

"I bet on number two!" Usopp said.

"Me too!" Franky cut in. Both of them placed their bet on the table.

"You guys aren't even helping!" Zoro said exasperatedly.

Usopp shrugged, "To be fair, Zoro, we've been round here talking about the same thing for the last two weeks and you've still done nothing- it's just fun to spice things up with a bet..."

"I'm betting on the option that Zoro doesn't do it," Ace smirked, placing his bet down.

"You saying I can't do it?!" Zoro challenged.

Ace laughed, "You've been saying you'll do it for the last six months, not to mention the year before that crushing on this guy. You would've done it by now, if you had the balls. If you keep doing this some other girl or guy is just gonna snap him up. You agree with me, don't you Marco?"

The blond haired man next to him didn't even look up from his book as he passed ten bucks to Nami, "I bet he doesn't do it, yoi..." He said and returned to reading.

Zoro snapped.

"Che. You all suck! You know what?! Fuck it! To hell with it! I'm gonna tell him." The green haired man growled and stomped to the front door, snatching up his coat, "Screw you all- making bets on me. I'll fucking show you!"

Ace looked at the door which slammed shut and then back to Nami, "I'd like to change my bet to the third option."

* * *

><p>Zoro nuzzled his nose into soft blond locks, drawing a pleased sigh from the man laying atop of him, "You good?" Zoro murmured, running a hand up the blond's toned back and smooth skin.<p>

"Yeah... That was... That was certainly something, Marimo..." The man said, raising his head so that Zoro was looking into Sanji's face. Blue eyes looking down at him from above lightly freckled cheeks and a crooked smile on his lips, "Usually I don't sleep with someone the second they confess to me... and I've never slept with a guy before... but to hell with it, I was almost done with waiting for your stupid ass to make a move."

Zoro tensed slightly, "You... liked me?"

Sanji yawned and placed his head down on the mosshead's bare chest, nuzzling into it slightly, "Yeah." He said, as though it were the simplest thing in the world, "I thought I'd made it obvious," Zoro felt the blond smile against his skin, "But then again you are an idiot. I was gonna try and tell you this week but work was hectic and then suddenly you came over and said all that stuff and, well," His hands brushed over Zoro's sides soothingly, "To hell with it- this was the only way I could get you to realise."

"So you won't regret this in the morning?" Zoro asked, afraid of the answer.

Sanji pushed himself up so he was leaning on his hands, bracketing Zoro in and raising his torso off the mosshead's chest, "Why would I regret it? Now shut up and kiss me, I'm feeling like round two..."

Zoro grinned as he rolled them over and pinned the blond to the bed, kissing him roughly, 'To hell with it,' he thought as Sanji's laughter reached his ears before breaking into pleased moans.


	10. Graphic Novel

**AN: A 3 sentence prompt for ZoSan from Tumblr.**

"No. We are not doing that." Sanji sighed, batting away the book that Zoro shoved into his face yet again as he tried to turn the next page of the cookbook.

The book retracted before returning with an entirely new picture of something Sanji really did NOT want to see, and he squeaked awkwardly before hissing, "You put that fucking book back down right now!"

Zoro smirked smugly before leaning in close, clutching the very graphic book of sex positions to his chest, "Too late, I've already took it out..."


	11. Married Pirate Style

**AN: So I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean and... well... a certain marriage scene had me thinking.**

"So what do you say?!" Zoro yelled, voice almost splitting over the restless waves that crashed against the sides of the Sunny, drenching the decks and grass with salty water. The green haired pirate raised his hand, parrying the axe that threatened to cave his head in with Kitetsu, "Cook!"

Sanji's leg swung high, kicking away a Marine that attempted to tackle him to the ground. He turned slightly and barked over the top of the voices of crew and Marines alike, "Now really isn't the time!" He threw up three more kicks consecutively, sending a small cluster of people back, "Besides, we've got no one to do it!"

Zoro slashed low, taking out the legs of five Marines who crumpled to the ground pathetically, he staggered exhaustedly back upright, "Luffy is a captain! According to the laws he's allowed to do this!"

Sanji moved low, dodging and fighting his way until he was back to back with the swordsman, "I don't even know where he is!"

The Marines fell back a little, now wary as two of the Monster Trio had teamed up. Zoro's head suddenly snapped up, "He's there... LUFFY!"

Luffy was at the wheel, looking down to Zoro at the call of his name, his fist still raised after perfecting an attack, "Zoro!" He grinned, "What's wrong?"

Zoro swung again, knocking Marines back with the force, he grunted, "Marry us!"

"You want me to marry you?! Who to?!"

"The shitty cook, you moron!"

Luffy smiled, "You're getting married?! That's awesome! Is Sanji the bride?"

Zoro almost laughed at the look on the blond's face but composed himself as he took out the last of the Marines on the grassy deck, "Luffy just do it!"

"Okay! Okay! Woah-!" Luffy ducked as a sword almost took him by surprise. He stumbled back, eyes focused on his new attacker but mouth still speaking to the two battered pirates, "Do you Zoro take Sanji to be your wife?"

"I AM NOT HIS-"

"I DO!" Zoro yelled.

"Do you Sanji take Zoro to be your husband?" Luffy wrapped his arms tightly around the Marine, trapping his arms at his sides as the sword clattered to the ground.

Sanji glowered, "Oh I take the bastard to be something alright..."

"Do you promise to fight each other and eat lots of meat for as long as you live?" Luffy hurled the Marine overboard.

"We do!" Zoro and Sanji said as one.

"Then Zoro, kiss your wife!" Luffy laughed.

"WHO SAID I WAS GOING TO BE THE WI-" Sanji was cut off as Zoro dragged him into a deep kiss and held him tightly, time seemingly halting for that one perfect moment as the ship rocked dangerously and the battle cries of Marines and crew ripped the air.


	12. Part Of His Dream

**Warning: Character death.**

* * *

><p>"Oi, Marimo, look at me!"<p>

Sanji pawed at the swordsman's coat, grabbing fistfuls of it tightly as he pushed down in an attempt to stop the green haired man moving. Under his hands, Zoro's chest was heaving dramatically as he tried to get in air that wouldn't quite come. His one good eye was calm though. Showing his inner peace and acceptance despite the way his body writhed and bucked.

Sanji was covered in blood. It soaked his trousers, the stomach of his jacket and the entirety of his left arm. Every time he breathed he could taste the coppery tang in the air at the back of his mouth, clogging his airways and making him gag. He was choking on Zoro's blood. He placed Zoro's red sash, which he'd wrapped around his hand, on the gash that was deeply set into his stomach. He couldn't take his eyes off it. Blood was oozing out of it, sliding down Sanji's fingers and his wrists in a slow, but never stopping pace. He was bleeding out. His lifeblood tainting Sanji's hands and vanishing into the cuffs of his shirt sleeves.

"You'll be fine," Sanji said, a lie. An awful, awful lie. But he needed hope. If he told himself that Zoro would be fine, he'd pull through. Zoro never let him down, "You'll be fine. Chopper will fix you. I promise. You'll be-"

"You're... a terrible liar... cook," Zoro said through clenched teeth. Sanji looked up, away from the God awful wound, to meet the Marimo's face. Zoro was pale and sweating with the effort to keep breathing and awake. His jaw was so tight Sanji could see the sinews of his neck jutting out.

"Marimo..." Sanji murmured, voice almost cracking as it failed him.

Zoro smiled ever so slightly, the corners of his bloodless lips curving up a little, "It's okay..." His eyes were clouding now, but that only sent a fresh wave of determination through Sanji.

The blonde pressed firmer on the sash over the wound- if he could stop the bleeding now, Zoro might have a chance-

"Damn it, shit cook... Just leave it..." Zoro gasped, a small stream of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth now. A hand, sticky with drying blood, slotted over Sanji's, "It's okay, Sanji."

Sanji tried not to acknowledge the fact the swordsman had just said his name- Zoro only ever said it if the situation was serious. If he didn't hear it then this was all going to turn out okay, this was all going to be fine. There would be a happy ending, "Marimo...?"

Zoro took Sanji's blood smeared hand and held it as tightly as he could, only managing a feeble squeeze in his current state, "I didn't die in vain... alright?"

"But I- it was aimed for me," Sanji said.

Zoro seemed to ignore him, "You have a nice dream, Sanji... Can I.. be a part of it?"

The blonde shook when he realised what this was, "You moron, don't say your goodbyes! You'll look stupid when you wake up and Chopper's fixed you!" His eyes were burning.

He wasn't crying. He wouldn't cry.

Zoro let out a soft gasped laugh, but it was devoid of any happiness, "Little too late... for Chopper. But promise me... I can be a part of it, right?"

"Of course you can, baka!" Sanji was borderline hysterical. How was this happening?! Why did he take the hit?! Zoro couldn't die! He couldn't!

"I know... You'll make the best food... You shitty cook..."

"Please, don't. Just hold on a little longer and-"

Zoro silenced him with a tug born from the last of his strength on Sanji's hand, causing the blonde to be pulled up to face height and their mouths to hit. The swordsman captured his lips and moved his own against the cook who was stunned to reciprocate the kiss for a moment before it all hit him in a wave and he kissed back with even more passion than the Marimo initially gave.

Sanji put everything into that kiss. His fear, his heart ache and the promise to make Zoro a part of his own dream. He could taste the blood at the back of Zoro's mouth, felt the tears finally escape from his eyes but didn't take his lips from the swordsman's.

Not even when Zoro stopped kissing back forever.

"Zoro..."

* * *

><p>Sanji stood on the platform, looking out across the ocean. Every shade of blue and green imaginable all mixed into one place. He snuffed out his cigarette and left it broken in the ashtray on the small coffee table and sighed out the last lungful of smoke before entering the building once again.<p>

The kitchen was loud and lively with the clatter and bang of pots and the shouts of the chefs as they cheerily greeted their Head Chef. He smiled politely, bidding his good mornings to them all as he walked through, pausing briefly to grab a plate from the fridge, and opened the double doors to step into the restaurant itself to slip behind the bar.

The restaurant decor was a thing of beauty, all elegant curves, deep sapphire shades and soft pastel creams that reminded him of sea foam. But he wasn't here to admire his restaurant.

He took a key from a small chain around his neck and slipped it into a lock of a cabinet behind on the wall that stood in the centre of the bar and above it so that from every angle of the room it could be seen. He placed the plate from the fridge on the side and set to cleaning up the single shelf. He polished the glass of the photo frame and replaced and lit the incense in the holder with his lighter and took out the long stretched oval shaped dish and wiped it clean before placing the three onigiri from the fridge onto it delicately and putting it back.

He smiled up at the familiar old face looking back at him and took the plate back to the kitchen before opening the main doors and letting Zoro's gaze, forever captured on print, watch as the customers kept on coming and coming. The swordsman always and forever a part of Sanji's dream


	13. You Better Be Listening

**AN: Something I wrote randomly during a break at school. **

"I don't know what I am anymore. I'm lost in it all... I feel... I feel like I'm drowning out at sea in a storm and no one can hear my screams for help. You can't come and save me now and, in a way, I don't want to be saved.

I'm... scared, I guess. Heh, 'scared'- thought that word would never come out of my mouth, eh? Yeah... Yeah I'm scared...

I was frightened a lot of times, you know, on our travels. But I couldn't show it, not to the rest of them- us three were the strongest... we had to take on what they couldn't. But I got courage from you two... You especially. You were my counterpart when we fought. For all our fights, we always had each other's backs. And that was good, that was nice- it gave me reassurance when I had none left in me.

But now you're not here...? I'm scared again. What happens now? What do I... What do we do? We can't find someone else, because... because well... Look. There's probably hundreds of people out there who are strong. But... What... What I'm trying to say is... Ugh! Who else is going to sleep in stupid places? Who else can dare to steal liquor from my kitchen? Who else could challenge me in a fight?...

Just... I... There..."

Sanji stared at the three katanas in his lap on the grassy patch of ground near the black headstone with it's gold engravings. He took in a shaky breath, hands coming up to cover his face and chewed at his lip, "I'm only going to say this once... You better be listening..." He whispered.

"There's no one out there like you... and..." His voice strained, "There never will be... Zoro."


	14. Those Three Words

**AN: another 3 sentence prompt for zosan from Tumblr- we agreed in the challenge that dialogue didn't count as a sentence by itself.**

There were many things that shitty green haired bastard said to annoy Sanji- practically anything out of Zoro's mouth irked him to no end. But there were three special little words the man would say that Sanji could never tire of or ever find irritating. And those three words would always be said late at night, when Zoro assumed Sanji was asleep, curled against his chest and he'd smile and run a hand through blond locks as he hummed,

"I love you."


	15. Play Date

**AN: Anon on Tumblr wanted a childhood friendship ZoSan.**

Both Zeff and Koshiro were both regretting their decision to meet up for lunch. Zeff had recently adopted an orphaned child and was eager for the young boy to make some friends. Koshiro had suggested that he bring Zoro round on a sort of arranged 'play date'. He'd assumed that, being adopted as well, Zoro would have some sympathy for the other and therefore become good friends.

He'd been wrong.

So very wrong.

The two parents watched as the green and blonde blur of tangled fists and legs disappeared behind the bar in loud shouts and growls, startling the young waitress Vivi as she stumbled backwards to get out of the way. Zeff covered his face with a hand, "I'm so sorry, Koshiro... The little brat isn't usually that bad..."

Koshiro swallowed, laughing nervously as Zoro pinned the boy underneath him, the blonde's head striking the floor with considerable force, "It's quite alright. Zoro is never this bad either... I apologise for him as well-"

A loud roar of outrage had a number of customers and staff as well as the two men looking up to see Zoro wiping spit from his face and the other boy- Sanji- scrabbling to his feet and raising his right leg. Koshiro swore he saw hell in those eyes before Zeff shot forward and lifted the blonde up into his arms, the little boy struggling and growling like a wild beast. His face was scuffed and bruised and Zoro's looked no better as Koshiro picked up his boy as well.

"Play time's over, eggplant," Zeff said and Koshiro nodded as he tried to stop Zoro from biting his sleeve in his attempt to break free. Sanji was clawing at Zeff's arm, hissing like a cat which caused some customers to look nervous.

Koshiro had to bodily drag his son out of the restaurant and into the car, the little Marimo snarling and wriggling the whole way. After he'd been strapped in Zoro fell silent and still in an enormous strop and didn't speak until they were halfway home, "I want to see Sanji again."

Koshiro nearly let go of the steering wheel.

* * *

><p>Sanji was scowling into his plate as Zeff sat down next to him, "You caused a hell of a scene today, little eggplant. What d'you think you're playing at? You'll scare away customers-"<p>

"I want to see Zoro again," Sanji said.

Zeff faltered, "What?!"

"He's my friend," The blonde said, a huge grin splitting his face, "Can we have another play date?"

Zeff would have been lying if he'd said the little boy's smile didn't melt his heart. He ruffled Sanji's hair, "Sure thing, eggplant."

Sanji smiled even broader before tucking into his dinner and Zeff rolled his eyes in exasperation. He'd need to reinforce the whole restaurant for Zoro's next visit.


	16. Funeral

**AN: Anon on Tumblr asked for Zoro crying at Sanji's funeral.**

Zoro hadn't cried when Sanji died.

He'd been stricken by it- he wasn't that emotionless- but not a tear was shed. He remembered clearly the grip of Sanji's hand on his as he'd tried to pull the cook out of the debris- he still had the nail marks from the blonde to prove it.

Sanji had been trapped under the fallen debris, a metal crossbeam pinning him down with a simple slab of rubble stopping it from crushing his chest. Zoro wasn't sure what had happened as he tried tugging the blonde to safety but the next minute Sanji's grip slackened.

The bar had slipped.

Zoro had fought on to pull him out, an action he did not regret despite how he'd been kept in the infirmary for the gashes and deep cuts in his palms and wrists. He'd managed to get Sanji out and that was all he cared about and no amount of stitches could make him change his mind.

Chopper had sort of stabilised the cook and, for a few days, things seemed to be getting better no matter how close his chest had come to caving in. He was looking healthier even if he hadn't opened his eyes. And, now that he looked back on it all, Zoro was glad Sanji had remained unconscious until the very end.

The cook's heart finally gave out a day later.

Chopper, though distraught, had said it was better that way: at least the blonde passed in his sleep rather than awake and in agony until the end. The others, and Zoro, had agreed- though the swordsman was the only one not sobbing over it. It was as if he was waiting. Like he thought this was just something that would swiftly blow over and the cook would be back in the kitchen fawning over the girls and pissing him off to no end. Chopper put it all down to shock after Luffy had dragged the green haired man to the infirmary, demanding to know why the unspoken first mate hadn't cried for his Nakama. The little reindeer had offered therapy-like sessions in which he and Zoro would just talk about it. Zoro, politely, declined.

Today however, was Sanji's funeral.

It had been two days since his death and, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, Zoro had noticed some changes on the ship. It was quiet, though that could've been due to the fact that Usopp, Luffy and Chopper were to downhearted to do anything rambunctious or stupid. Zoro wished they would, even if it would be considered too soon after Sanji's passing. Something inside of him wanted that happiness, that normality restored on the Sunny. If it wasn't, he was sure he would go mad.

There was something else as well. Something Zoro couldn't quite put his finger on but it felt like something had been ripped away from him and left him with a raw, open wound that seemed to be aggravated every time someone so much as mentioned the cook. He didn't know what it was and it unsettled him so he buried it deep down and away. He didn't like the way it made him feel.

It reminded him too much of when Kuina died.

He was thinking on some vague thought that had long dissipated and left his head when Chopper poked his head around the door, "Zoro?"

Zoro looked up, surprised to find himself in the kitchen again. He didn't even remember walking in here... His eyes caught the stove where the cook should be and he quickly diverted his gaze when the unwelcome feeling of not being complete threatened to raise its ugly head. He looked at the little reindeer and forced a smile, something to cover up his inner turmoil, "Chopper."

The doctor nodded, "Are you coming?"

Zoro looked at him blankly.

"The... The funeral, Zoro..." Chopper said, rubbing his hooves together slowly.

The swordsman blinked, "O-oh yeah..." He got up, unsure of what to do. Zoro hadn't taken part in any of the funeral plans- he'd chosen to stay out of it because it only seemed to give an open invitation to that goddamned empty feeling he didn't want.

"You can go and see him if you want. Everyone else has... We were waiting for you... to.. come join us," Chopper mumbled and sniffed, he sounded on the verge of tears already.

Zoro shrugged. If every one else had gone, he should too. He followed the reindeer out, shutting the kitchen door after him out of habit- Sanji didn't like it when people left the door open.

He tried to smother that feeling in his chest again.

Sanji didn't look as if he'd died from heart failure. That's what Chopper had said it was. But Zoro had expected... he didn't know what, but Sanji looked awfully peaceful. Not like his heart had gone into arrest at all. If Zoro didn't know any better then he would've thought the cook was sleeping.

Sanji was in one of his suits, the clothes pristine and pressed, his hair was neat and groomed perfectly and his blue eyes were delicately shut. He looked just like Zoro remembered him.

Chopper had informed him that it was to be a Viking Funeral which meant they were going to put the blonde out to sea and burn him. But seeing Sanji like this, as though he were asleep, made that idea unbearable. To know that this body who'd been a person once, who'd smiled and laughed, fought and lived, argued and pissed Zoro off to no extent was about to be consumed by flames and burnt into nothing opened that hole again and Zoro didn't think that it would close this time.

There would be no more fighting, sparring or even those rare moments where they didn't and just enjoyed one another's company. There would be no more of that cooking he secretly loved to bits or anyone to leave him sake by the trap door whilst he was training in the Crows Nest.

Sanji was gone.

And nothing would bring him back.

Zoro felt sick.

When they set Sanji's body off on a little Going Merry Franky had specially made, the crew stood sombre by the side railing to watch it go as the small fire at the end of it picked up heat and size. Soon the little boat was alight, a plume of flame that burned intensely on the blue waters.

The crew crowded together save for that of Zoro who sat up in the Crows Nest at the window, looking out. He still felt sick despite the fact he'd already thrown up shortly after running from the infirmary. His eyes were burning as he watched the whole funeral.

As he watched Sanji go.

At that something broke. The open chasm in him tore deeper and it physically HURT to watch the little boat burn for any longer.

Zoro buried his face into his hands and screamed.


	17. 121

**AN: I like writing post battle ZoSan scenes.**

His eye burned and Sanji wiped at it with the back of his hand working the liquid that had tried to get in back out and when he pulled it away his thumb and knuckles were stained red. He picked his way across the fallen Marines that were scattered everywhere, trying to ignore the pain flaring up his right side with each step. He berated himself silently for not having dodged the attack that had made him land awkwardly onto the sloped rocks. His shirt and jacket were tattered and bloodied, the biggest rip revealing a gash from a lucky sword wielder. It wasn't too deep but that didn't stop it from stinging like mad.

The high from the fight had settled awkwardly on him. He wanted to feel good that he'd taken down so many Marines but he'd almost been taken down himself in the process. That sudden shock of realising he was not invincible despite what the adrenaline told him made his skin itch and his stomach churn weirdly. He would've reached for a cigarette but they were left behind him, ruined and mushed in a puddle of mud. He needed to get back to the ship.

His teeth felt as though they were itching and he was dying for a smoke which only seemed to make the walk even longer. Pain wracked his body and his back ached with some unseen injury as he half staggered. If anything the Sunny seemed to be getting further and further away.

"Oi, cook!"

Sanji hadn't even realised he'd passed out until he found himself staring up into Zoro's face with the sensation of rocks underneath him. Zoro's hand touched his shoulder and he hissed as it sent a bolt of pain through him.

"Cook?"

"Hnnn, I'm fine," Sanji managed, breath raspy and grating against his vocal cords until they burned with the effort.

Zoro's one good eye looked at him sternly, "No you're not, cook. Come on," He offered a hand, "Get up."

Sanji moaned as he took Zoro's hand, his whole shoulder grinding in its socket, and let the Marimo pull him up into a sitting position. He blinked against the sudden head rush and swallowed down the sudden urge to vomit. Zoro was right, he wasn't fine.

The moss head didn't look too good either. His forehead was marred with deep scratches where his head had obviously struck something hard and a long cut ran down his right cheek, little rivers of blood pumping down his chin and neck. One collarbone had puffed up to twice its regular size with swelling, the skin a vibrant red, and his torso was riddled with cuts and marks and Sanji swore to God that was a bullet hole in Zoro's thigh.

Zoro caught him staring and shrugged despite the pain in his collarbone, "Just a scratch."

"Hell of a scratch you got there, moss head," Sanji laughed dryly and lay back down, the suddenness of a dizzy sensation threatening to make him black out.

"Oi, cook," Zoro said, "You better not faint again."

"Don't get too worried, people might think we like each other or something," Sanji smirked, coughing as the last word split and came out funny, "I... don't think I can move..."

Zoro chuckled, "Chopper's gonna be so mad at us."

"Heh... Can't be any worse than how I feel now..." The blonde snickered, hissing as pain shot up his ribs.

Zoro lay down next to him silently, grunting in his own pain, "True..."

They lapsed into a quiet that Zoro broke after a minute, "I took down 120."

"121"

"Fuck you."

Sanji smiled.


	18. Keep Me Warm

**AN: I always get a lot of ZoSan angst prompts but it's nice to write something sweet about these two shitty bastards sometimes.**

Sanji dithered despite the blanket he had held around him, "Fuck-k it's c-cold!" He yelped, leaping out of the armchair he'd tried to settle down in, the leather cold and unwelcoming.

Why did the heating have to be broken?! Why?! He shook furiously and tried to keep his chattering jaw shut. He couldn't cope with this any longer! Zoro had to fix this somehow!

He stormed over to his room mate's bedroom, intent on kicking his lazy ass out of bed when the sudden gust of hot air hit him as he opened the door. Sanji's anger dissipated as the heat wrapped around him and he stepped into Zoro's room, shutting the door to keep in the warmth that Sanji hungered for.

How the hell was it so warm in here?!

He moved to the bed and looked down at the Zoro shaped lump underneath the covers. He reached out and prodded what he assumed was the man's shoulder.

"Marimo..." He whispered, trying to rouse the other out of sleep, "Marimoooo~"

When Zoro didn't respond, the blonde whacked the top of his mossy head that protruded from the covers earning him a low growl, "What?"

"You need to fix the heating," Sanji said, "I'm freezing my ass off out there!"

"Nnnh," Zoro groaned, "Later... I'm sleeping..."

Sanji whacked him again, "No sleeping! Get out there and fix it you lazy piece of shit!"

The blonde gasped as Zoro's hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed his wrist and suddenly he was being pulled against the green haired man's chest. When his brain had processed the position they were now in, he tried to break away, heat burning his cheeks, "M-Marimo what the-?"

Zoro took in a sharp breath as Sanji's cold skin touched his, "Jeez cook, you're freezing!"

"Stop manhandling me you brute I-!" Sanji stopped, his shout giving way to a breathy sigh as Zoro's searing hot skin met his, "Oh wow, shit, you're really warm..."

"I know,"

"Oh God," Sanji breathed as he pushed into Zoro, burrowing into the warmth he so desperately craved.

Zoro chuckled, "What was all that about being manhandled, cook?"

"Shut up and keep me warm," Sanji snapped as he dipped his head down to the top of the covers and snuggled further into his room mate's touch.


	19. Marimo Prince

**AN: Anon on Tumblr asked for a runaway royalty AU!**

**Just so you know, I am still taking prompts for this and if you'd like to see a continuation of any of these then just leave it in a review or PM me.**

"Yeah, yeah, so you can swing a buncha swords around... but there's more to being a thief than knowing how to defend yourself. You're better off where you're at... your highness," The blond elf sneered and jumped up from the crates he was stood on and gripped the wall with his hands, swinging himself up neatly into a crouch and preparing himself to jump down to the other side when the deep voice of the man keeping him behind schedule called out.

"No! Wait!"

The blond sighed, almost growled, snapping at the supposed prince before him, "What?!"

The man pulled back the dark good of the riding cloak that shrouded his features to reveal the tan skin, the green hair, the three piercings, and the silver band of a crown that could belong to no one else but Zoro Roronoa, the prince and heir to the kingdom of East Blue, and the world renowned Demon on the battlefield. The blond thief perched on the wall raised a curled eyebrow and chuckled, "Well, I'll be damned, you're the real deal, huh?"

"I'll offer you whatever you want, elf," Zoro said, "Money, land, a title, anything! Just help me get out of here."

The blond elf hummed and his pointed ears twitched, "But why oh why would the prince want to escape?"

"That's none of your concern, thief."

The elf frowned and held the challenging glare the prince fixed on him for a moment before cracking a wicked grin, "Fine. You gotcha self a deal."

"And what is it you want in return?" Zoro asked.

"I don't want your money, or anythin' like that. I want you."

"What?!"

"You'll be my partner, my right hand man." The elf laughed at the expression on the prince's face, "Don't worry, I'll pay you fairly. I'll split my earnings with ya, seventy-thirty."

"That's hardly fair!"

"First rule of this kinda life, grass prince: it isn't fair." The elf laughed and leapt nearly off the wall to the grassy bank the other side, "Are you coming, grass prince?" He called.

"Stop calling me that!" Was the reply.


	20. Talking in Bed

_**It becomes still more difficult to find**_

_**Words at once true and kind,**_

_**Or not untrue and not unkind.**_

_**~Talking in Bed by Philip Larkin~**_

* * *

><p><strong>.Talking in Bed.<strong>

* * *

><p>They still slept together, though why Zoro had no idea. Perhaps it was just the norm, so used to it now that there was no escape from it, like two lingering spirits not able to move on. Stuck in repeat.<p>

He felt Sanji shift next to him on the double bed Franky had made and he reflected that once this had been exciting. There was once something thrilling in going to bed with the cook, but now it felt heinous. A chore, a bother. The blond sighed and moved some more and Zoro wondered just where he was planning on moving to, there wasn't much mattress left after all. But he didn't turn over to look. He would have done that once, but he knew better now how to avoid a faceful of venom these days.

They were almost like shy lovers, stepping around each other but never quite touching and it was almost comical he supposed that two fiery characters could begin to dim so easily. There was a beast of an elephant in the room and neither would dare to confront it.

There was no talking and if it weren't for the blond's usual chatter around the ship then Zoro would surely have forgotten what the man's voice sounded like. But what was there to say? He could barely remember the idle talk they used to share and he wished now that he had treasured it in his memories, so that he had something to play back to himself now in the silence.

It was odd how a person could feel so lonely when lying next to another.

Zoro turned his hearing to the world outside, the creak of the Sunny, the lap of the waves that rocked the boat gently. He stared up at the porthole which leaked in dreary silver moonlight and envisioned the world outside. The expanse of ocean and the islands with their piled up towns and haberdashery villages laid out like patchwork. So many people living there, loving there, dying there. Suddenly his problems seemed insignificant when compared to these imaginary people inside his head but this was a problem that was big to the one suffering it.

He knew well enough why he couldn't turn over, why he couldn't speak, or feel the blond beneath his fingers. Because he had nothing positive left to say to the man and if he opened his mouth then he would not say that he loved.

Zoro had slowly stopped loving a while ago and now all he had left to say was hate.


	21. No Loose Ends

Sanji sat under the cold spray of the shower like it could do something to make him feel better- to not be feeling like this. The water spat at the bite marks on his collarbones, the hickeys on his neck, stinging them and causing the pain to flare back up. Usually it was a nice pain but this time it was unpleasant and wrong, so so wrong.

His heart was still elated from the sprint he'd made from Zoro's house to get here. He'd fumbled at the lock and slide bolt with shaking hands and stripped the wrinkled clothes off him and thrown them violently aside as he'd stepped straight into the freezing downpour.

"Oh God..." He sighed and ran a palm over his face, pulling his hair against his skin with moisture. His mind was a mess of irrational thoughts and memories, each one leaping to be the first he'd come to. He settled for the biggest one; the big main problem.

Sanji had never liked the term 'fuck buddies' but that's what he and Zoro were, 'friends with benefits' he supposed but that phrase sounded old and outdated nowadays. It had happened pretty much spontaneously at a party at Luffy's. They'd both made the rules of the contract pretty clear: Sanji wasn't looking for a relationship and neither was Zoro- this was just for release as and when they needed it.

It worked pretty well for a majority of the time, Zoro was great in bed and though he may get lost on the streets, he never got lost in the sheets. It was fast but thorough sex in the beginning but over the recent months Zoro had started to change. He thought nothing of it at first except that maybe Zoro didn't want just a quick fuck all of the time so Sanji went along with it as the others touches got softer and more gentle and the sex became more like lovemaking than anything they'd done before.

And Sanji had quickly fallen into it. Zoro remained for his part silent on the matter and the blond soon found himself spending most nights over at Zoro's house and not leaving until evening the next day whereas before it was sex then leave after a shower. And Zoro kept getting ever the more softer. There were the few days where it was rougher sex but for the most it was languid and long and touchy and almost meaningful in a way.

The blond felt a little ashamed to admit he'd enjoyed it, all the attention and the gentleness of it all. By then he'd realised things were changing but he was in too deep, drowning in it, and Zoro was being so perfect and everything he'd never known he'd wanted and he let himself be carried away by it all, swooped off his feet in Zoro's tenderness.

But tonight he'd drawn the line. Tonight he'd been smacked in the face by the reality of what was happening when Zoro had held him close and shook and through his fractured moaning he had managed to croak out to the blond, "Love you... Love you, Sanji..."

And Sanji was shaken like he'd been placed in the epicentre of an earthquake, rattled and shook up with a force not even the Richter Scale could measure because Zoro loved him.

The man had opened himself up to him and Sanji had panicked. He'd wriggled out from under Zoro and pushed him aside, grabbing his stuff whilst Zoro was momentarily dazed from his high, and slipped into his clothes and ran. Ran away. All the way home because nothing was ever meant to happen because of the sex.

He ran away from Zoro and his love.

Sanji sunk down in the shower unit, back against the hard tiles on the wall and murmured, "He loves me..."

And the words scare him.


End file.
